Police: patient stabs 3 Mass. hospital workers

AP , Associated Press

Jan. 8, 20149:22 PM ET

METHUEN, Mass. (AP) — Three hospital staff members sustained superficial injuries after a patient stabbed them with scissors in a locked behavioral health unit at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen on Wednesday, police and the hospital said.

Methuen Police Capt. Randy Haggar said Yan Carlos Nunez, 20, of Lawrence, was safely subdued by the time police arrived at the hospital shortly after 4:30 p.m.

"The situation was quickly contained and no threat exists to any staff, patients or the public," Haggar said.

Haggar said one woman was cut on the scalp and face, another woman was cut on the arm, and a man who subdued Nunez was stabbed in the shoulder and neck area.

Brooke Thurston, a spokeswoman for Holy Family's owner Steward Health Care, said the employees are in stable condition and expected to fully recover.

"We are fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation," Thurston said.

Haggar said Nunez was arrested on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to murder. Nunez is under police guard in a secure area of the hospital and is expected to be arraigned there on Thursday, Haggar said.

A telephone listing couldn't be found for Nunez's home. It's not immediately known if he has an attorney.

Holy Family's website says it is a 60-year-old, 261-bed acute-care hospital that serves the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Methuen is a city of about 47,000 on the located in northeastern Massachusetts near the New Hampshire border.

METHUEN, Mass. (AP) — Three hospital staff members sustained superficial injuries after a patient stabbed them with scissors in a locked behavioral health unit at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen on Wednesday, police and the hospital said.